Chapter 84 Puyol’s voice

When they saw Fabregas standing at the penalty spot, Del Bosque and the assistant coaches stood up and were ready to celebrate.

I thought this was the goal that sealed the victory, but unexpectedly it was kicked away by Fabregas.

This made the two people, who had their arms raised halfway, a little embarrassed. Assistant coach Bosque and Tony looked at each other, with a wry smile on their faces.

Why is it so difficult for these guys to take a penalty kick?

"Who takes the penalty next?"

Tony thought for a moment and replied:

"Xavi, he is more stable in taking penalty kicks. He shouldn't miss the penalty, right?"

Bosque agreed on the surface, but he was beating a drum in his heart:

Is Harvey really that stable?

Spain's failure to take penalty kicks seems to be a glorious tradition, and the Del Bosque era was pretty good.

Spain in Enrique's era even practiced 1,000 penalty kicks before the game, was still eliminated in the penalty shootout, and was eliminated in two consecutive World Cups in the penalty shootout...

Fabregas' missed penalty had little impact on Spain's morale, but it had a great impact on the French team's morale.

After the restart, the French team pressed forward across the board and launched a series of fierce attacks on Spain.

Since the referee's previous penalty was controversial, after the restart, the referee seemed to be making up for the French team intentionally or unintentionally.

In the 41st minute, Ramos and Ribery kicked each other down during the fight and were given a yellow card by the referee.

Two minutes later, when Lin Quan broke through with the ball, he was tripped by a defender in almost the same way. The referee was close at hand but did not make any sign.

This naturally angered the Spanish players. Busquets, Xavi and others also came up to surround the referee, thinking that his penalty was unfair.

Even if no cards are drawn, at least a free kick should be given.

The referee did not even give a verbal warning and directly took out a yellow card, but it was not given to the French team's defensive players, but to the Spanish midfielders Xavi and Butzquez.

This penalty was booed by more than 50,000 fans at the scene. The fans were very dissatisfied with the referee's decision.

If you include the two yellow cards he showed to the French team before, he showed four yellow cards at halftime because players from both teams protested against his enforcement standards.

The existence of these four yellow cards itself is evidence that there are problems with his law enforcement ability.

Del Bosque couldn't stand it anymore and rushed out to protest to the fourth official:

"Hey, look what you did. That was a yellow card. Instead of punishing the foul player, you gave my player a yellow card. Do you enforce the law like this?"

The fourth official signaled Del Bosque to calm down and complain to FIFA if there was any problem. He was only the fourth official and could not change the referee's decision.

In fact, Del Bosque also knew that protesting to the fourth official was useless, but if he didn't protest, he would feel very unhappy.

"I will complain to FIFA!"

After saying a few words, the old coach returned to the coaching bench angrily.

Maybe it was because of the boos from the fans at the scene, or maybe it was because after he finished making up for it, the referee finally calmed down.

After showing those two yellow cards to the Spanish team, the referee's enforcement returned to normal standards.

In the 44th minute of the first half, the Spanish team committed a defensive foul in its own half and gave the opponent a free kick that was not in a good position.

There is nothing wrong with the penalty of this goal, but the fans at the scene will boo the referee whenever they see a penalty that is unfavorable to their team.

The French team was not affected by the boos at the scene, and they were not booed anyway.

Cabaye took the free kick. Because there was not much time left in the first half, they did not choose to cooperate tactically. Instead, they directly hoisted into the penalty area and allowed their teammates to grab points.

Benzema, who is of similar height, overpowered club teammate Ramos in the penalty area and grabbed the first spot.

He did not choose to attack the goal directly, but passed the ball to his teammates. Mene jumped high from the other side, completed a header relay in the air, and broke through the Spanish goal.

This was a wonderful collaboration. The French team relied on headers to equalize the score tenaciously in the last minute of the first half.

However, the large-screen replay at the scene showed that the ball was suspected of being offside.

At the moment when Benzema headed the ball, Mene was suspected of appearing on the offside line.

Now, Spanish fans are even more unhappy.

Black whistle protests followed one after another, and some conspiracy theorists even believed that the referee of this game came with a mission from FIFA.

FIFA doesn't want to see Spain defend the World Cup, so it wants to find an opportunity to get rid of them.

Although this speculation lacks actual evidence, once the conspiracy theory spreads, more and more people will believe it.

Even if FIFA immediately takes a stand and clarifies the matter, it may be difficult to completely eliminate the influence of conspiracy theories.

After the goal, the French team was extremely excited and celebrated wildly at the Calderon Stadium despite the boos of more than 50,000 fans at the scene.

To be able to tenaciously equalize the score when the score is behind, the situation is unfavorable to one's side, and the referee is suspected of unfair treatment, this is nothing less than a shot in the arm for the French team, making their blood boil with excitement.

The Spaniard felt that he had been given a black whistle by the referee, and the French team felt the same way.

If they lose this game, the French team will definitely protest to FIFA.

Of course, winning is a different matter.

By the time the French team finished celebrating, the time for the first half had run out.

After the restart, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

Players from both teams left the field and returned to their locker rooms.

On the home team's side, the Spanish players were disturbed by the referee in the last few minutes of the first half. All the players looked unhappy, and the atmosphere in the team was terrifyingly gloomy.

"Forget about the first half of the game and the referee's unfair penalties. All you have to do is play the game well and don't be affected by these factors."

Del Bosque is not a coach who is good at cheering up his players in the locker room, boosting their morale and making them full of fighting spirit.

He is more like the Huang Lao school of inaction, explaining the tactics step by step, and reminding the players to change how they play on the court, and then it's gone.

It's a bit out of character for him to give his players hair dryers like Ferguson did.

The mobilizers in the Spanish locker room are several veteran captains of the national team, such as Puyol and Casillas.

Seeing that his teammates were in a depressed mood, Puyol stood up:

"Hey guys, we're not behind, it's not the end of the world, there's no need to be so depressed!"

"Even if this game is a draw, with our previous goal difference advantage, we can still qualify first in the group and directly get tickets to the World Cup!"

The players raised their heads and looked at the old captain who did not play because of his age and declining condition.

Puyol underwent knee surgery this summer, but his post-operative recovery is not promising.

This World Cup trip may very well be the last time the old captain fights alongside them.

For them, if they miss this World Cup, there may be another chance.

But for Puyol, who is 34 years old, there is no next time.

"With our strength and the cheering of more than 50,000 fans at home, aren't the 45 minutes in the second half not enough for you to change the score?"

"Is that really what you think?"

"Guys, you are the world champions, you are the European champions, you are the strongest players in the world, no one can beat you!"

Puyol recalled the years he spent fighting with his teammates in the national team, the scene of winning the cup together and the honors they won after hard work, and said very emotionally:

“Perhaps many people know that my knee injury was very serious and I was planning to announce my retirement next year.

But Xavi persuaded me and hoped that I could accompany everyone to play in another World Cup.

I accepted Xavi's persuasion. This does not mean that I think the national team is indispensable, but that I want to witness with everyone that we are once again on top of the world and create an immortal dynasty belonging to the Spanish national team!

I hope that after playing in the World Cup and winning the World Cup, I can announce my retirement calmly under the spotlight.

Instead of being like a frustrated person who was tortured by injuries, defeated by the disease, and left the field sadly. "

"I can't play in this game, so I can only rely on you, please!"

Puyol's affectionate speech moved his teammates very much.

Several old teammates from the club and national team stepped forward to give him a warm hug.

The gloomy atmosphere that permeated the team had disappeared by now.

Even after Puyol publicly proposed to defend the World Cup championship, a goal that everyone only dared to keep in their hearts and dare not say publicly, the players' fighting spirit was rekindled.

The road to defending the title is bound to be very bumpy and cannot be smooth sailing.

The French team is just a stumbling block on the way forward, and there will be many more such stumbling blocks in the future.

If they can't even get past the French team, then what's the point of defending the title?

Seeing that the fighting spirit of his teammates was restored, Puyol joked:

"Besides, we still have players like Lin in our team. As long as the ball is passed to his feet, he can perform miracles!"

I am very surprised and lucky to be recommended by Sanjiang. Thank you all book friends for your support. Well, I still have some manuscripts in hand. Do you want to add another chapter? Uh-huh~~